Page 37 of The Mountain Man's Fake Christmas Bride
Stella hugs Jennifer warmly. "I knew something was happening when Ridge told me you were staying with Jared. This explains everything."
Colt and Savannah arrive next, bringing a homemade wedding cake that Savannah somehow managed to bake in record time. "Couldn't let you get married without a proper cake," she says, setting it carefully on the dining table.
Jax pulls up with Riley, his fiancée, both looking slightly confused but delighted by the sudden wedding. "First my little brother gets serious with Stella, and now my best friend is getting married to Ridge's foster sister," Jax says, shaking his head. "Christmas miracles all around this year."
Chloe is the last to arrive, breathless and carrying a small bouquet of white roses and evergreen sprigs. "Stole these from the store's holiday display," she admits, handing them to Jennifer. "Every bride needs flowers."
With our impromptu wedding party assembled, we gather in the living room where the minister waits patiently, having been briefed on the change in plans. Aunt Mildred sits in the place of honor, with Beverly fussing over her. Ridge stands beside me as my best man, while Chloe takes her place next to Jennifer.
Chellie scatters pine needles and pinecone pieces with enthusiastic abandon before Stella gently guides her to sit. "Your wedding decorations are now complete," Ridge whispers to me with a laugh.
As we stand before the minister in our decorated living room, surrounded by family and friends, I look at the woman beside me and marvel at how completely she's changed my life in just one short week.
"These aren't renewal vows," I announce to our gathered loved ones. "This is our first ceremony. Our real wedding."
"What?" Beverly looks between us with theatrical surprise. "But I thought..."
"It's a long story," Jennifer says, squeezing my hand. "One we'll tell you all later. But right now, we'd like to get married. For real. If that's okay with everyone."
Ridge grins, Stella leans against him with a knowing smile. Jax and Colt exchange amused glances while Riley and Savannah look on with delight. Aunt Mildred nods approvingly. Beverly looks momentarily stunned, then claps her hands in delight.
"Of course it's okay! It's wonderful! Oh, this is even better than I hoped when I cooked up this scheme!"
The minister, bless him, takes the change in stride, beginning the simple ceremony we've requested.
When it's time for vows, I turn to Jennifer, taking both her hands in mine.
"Jennifer Walsh, before you, my life was ordered. Predictable. Safe." The words echo our practice vows, but this time they carry the weight of true commitment. "You swept in like a hurricane, disrupting everything I thought I wanted. You filled my quiet spaces with laughter. My empty rooms with color. My careful routine with spontaneity."
Her eyes shine with tears as I continue.
"I promise to love you through every season. To stand beside you through every challenge. To choose you, every day, as you have chosen me. I promise to never retreat when things get difficult, to never build walls between us, to always find my way back to you."
She smiles through her tears, and when her turn comes, her voice is steady and clear.
"Jared Calloway, I never expected you. Never planned for a grumpy mountain man with walls around his heart and kindness in his eyes." She squeezes my hands. "But now I can't imagine my life without you. Without your quiet strength. Your gentle hands. Your unwavering support."
She takes a deep breath, her eyes never leaving mine.
"I promise to fill your life with color and laughter. To respect your need for quiet while never letting you retreat too far. To love your scars, both visible and hidden. To choose you, every day, in all the ways that matter. And to always, always believe in the miracle of us finding each other exactly when we needed it most."
The minister pronounces us husband and wife, and when I kiss her, it feels like the beginning of everything. The start of a life neither of us expected but both of us now embrace without reservation.
Our small group erupts in cheers. Chellie throws her remaining pinecones in celebration, and Colt produces a bottle of champagne from somewhere. Savannah cuts the wedding cake while Riley and Chloe arrange an impromptu buffet from the food we'd prepared for the evening.
Later, as we dance in our living room, Jax having connected his phone to my speakers for music, Aunt Mildred approaches us.
"Well played," she says with a knowing smile. "Though you could have saved everyone a lot of trouble by just telling the truth from the beginning."
"Where's the fun in that?" Jennifer grins.
"Indeed." Mildred's eyes soften. "Be good to each other. Life is too short for anything less than honest love."
"We will," I promise.
As she moves away to accept a piece of cake from Stella, I pull Jennifer closer, her head resting naturally against my chest.
"So," she murmurs. "Was this your plan all along? Fake marriage turning into real marriage?"
